As many of his fellow luminaries in college basketball coaching have retired in recent years — from Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams to Jay Wright and Tony Bennett — Tom Izzo remains on the sideline, preparing to lead Michigan State for the 31st season.
That doesn’t mean he likes everything going on in the sport, though.
While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Spartans coach criticized the NCAA for its changing player eligibility guidelines after two former NBA G League players have committed to college programs.
His comments came one day after Louisville landed a commitment from guard London Johnson, a former four-star recruit who played the past three seasons in the NBA’s developmental league. Johnson isn’t alone, either, as last month, fellow G Leaguer Thierry Darlan announced his commitment to Santa Clara.
‘I am going to get myself in trouble, but I listen to people talk about how kids changed. Kids aren’t the problem, we’re the problem,’ Izzo said. ‘This was sprung on us again yesterday where a guy can be in the G League for two or three years and then all of a sudden, he’s eligible. Most of my people knew nothing about it. … I’m not real excited about the NCAA or whoever is making these decisions, without talking to us, just letting it go. They’re afraid they’re going to get sued.’
Previously, such moves would have been unthinkable in college basketball, which outlawed players who had competed professionally and earned money beyond ‘actual and necessary expenses’ from playing on an NCAA team.
In the years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling in NCAA v. Alston — which opened the door to college athletes earning money off their name, image and likeness — players who would have once been barred from the sport by the NCAA’s amateurism rules have started populating college rosters.
Previously, that flood of former professionals had largely been players from overseas, primarily those who competed in European leagues. With Johnson and Darlan’s commitments, though, it’s extending to the American professional ranks.
The moves have come as NCAA player eligibility rules have been contested in court, often successfully. Last year, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, one of the Heisman Trophy front-runners this season, was granted an injunction by a federal judge in Tennessee that gave him an additional year of eligibility after he argued his years at the junior-college level shouldn’t count against his NCAA eligibility clock.
‘Someone is going to say, ‘Well, if they go pro and it doesn’t work out, they should be able to come back,’” said Izzo, who added that the NCAA needs to “regroup.’
‘Well, what about the freshmen you recruited there? That’s somebody’s son and he thinks he’s got himself a good place, and all of a sudden, shazam, they pull out of their hat and bring a 21- or 22-year-old in (from the G League). To me, it’s ridiculous. It’s embarrassing, and I love my job. I don’t respect my profession, and I don’t respect whoever is doing that. Whoever made those decisions because they’re afraid that a lawyer is going to sue them, sooner or later, you’ve got to fight the fight.”